Free Today - Walking Dead, Episode 1!

Grab it fast from here, becouse it's free for a limited time only.
Additionally, when your'e finished with Episode 1 - you'll be able to unlock Episodes from 2 to 5, all for $14.99. 

Prince of Persia / iPad Review

Jordan Mechner's well known classic ported to iOS? What..?! It's a must-buy for oldschool gamers! If Your'e one of them - don't even look at the score below, just go to the AppStore and get it!

But if You've never played it before, You probably won't understand what's so great about it. The action is slow-paced, fights are boring, our 'Prince' has got only one weapon to choose from.. And it's not a laser, not a gun, and before we find it - we can't fight at all! Even the default controls are a bit irritating, becouse there's only a slight difference between walking and running, and this difference often means a brutal death. So before You start - I recommend You go to the options, and change the controls to 'buttons', it will be a lot easier to control our character.

So, what's fun about this game? It's a classic! And it's idea was based on another all-time classic: Indiana Jones and the Raiders of The Lost Ark. Proof? Take a look at the video below! From 2:20 to 3:20 You've got it all: the jump, the pull, the closing doors, the spikes..

New Prince of Persia still has this special feeling, which made hundreds of thousands of players play, die, restart, play, die - and in effect spend several hours on a game, which was to be finished in less than an hour! That was absurdly awesome :)
Just becouse sometimes I try to be objective - I'll give this remake a solid 3/5. It still has everything it takes to be a solid arcade game, but comparing to other AppStore games.. well, the market has changed since 1989 :)

By the way - You should see some videos on YouTube, about how mr. Jordan created those smooth animations. I'll just say, that the video camera was borrowed, the 'Prince' was acted by mr. Jordans younger brother, and then they had to shot pictures of single frames displayed on the TV... And that was just the beginning. Also, the only way to defeat the Dark Prince was also the same way to successfuly end mr. Jordans previous game - Karateka.

By the way #2 - Karateka and The Last Express (another Jordan Mechner's game) will also by shipped to AppStore sometime soon. At least according to what mr. Jordan said last week in Warsaw, during onGameStart conference.

Jelly Defense / iPad Review

As a new happy iPad user I was searching the AppStore for my first game - something in a reasonably price (under 3€), good-looking (HD version a must!), with positive user feedback. Some friends recommended Angry Birds - but it would be to obviuos :)

Looking through recommended games, I came across this simple, nice looking icon with a one-eyed red monster, titled Jelly Defense. A Tower Defense game? Cool graphics? Some positive reviews? Ok jellies, show me what you've got!

Few minutes into the game - and I was addicted to this crazy music. I still often humm those jelly melodies.. 

The gameplay is standard - you place red, blue, or red and blue 'turrets' along a path. Red towers are firing at red jellies, blue at blue, and two color towers shoot at both kinds of jellies with less power then color-specific turrets. Simple, isn't it?

The coolest thing you notice is that everything in this game is moving, swinging a bit from side to side - like a tall jelly that can't stand still. Every jelly-monster, every turret, even some details in the background - they are all fun to watch. If you succeed killing the final boss - the animation of him dying is the most hilarious I've seen in years. Sometimes when you misslick a tree - it will start like a rocket and fly of the screen. When laser hits monster - there's a little comic baloon with POK!, when a cannonball hits with a splash - there's a little BOOM! balloon. Everywhere you look there are those silly details. 

After some (fifteen? twenty?) more fun-packed hours and having gone through all the levels in the game - I still want to play it. I need to collect 27 more gems to complete Jelly Defense in 100%. It will probably took some time, but.. The game just won't let you be bored. Each time you kill a jelly monster there's a chance some coins fall out, and if you don't swipe your finger fast enough - those coin can fell of the cliff, drawn in a pond, or just disappear after few seconds. I don't need to say that in later levels you can't afford losing more than 1-2 coins..? Placing and upgrading towers, collecting coins, using tilting to control special powers (like a little nasty hurricane, which anihilates all monsters it runs into; special powers also fall out of killed jellies) - it all forces you to act, and then think. There's no time for boredom playing Jelly Defense.

Summing up - beatiful and silly graphics, hilarious animations, addictive music and gameplay - IMHO it's a must for every humor loving player :)

Graphics - 5 

Sound - 5

Gameplay - 5

Overall - 5 (go get it!)

Neuroshima Hex / iPad Review

Neuroshima Hex - an addictive tactic board game - isn't for everyone.
If you like to think a lot on your next move trying to go with the best scenario possible, or you were a school chessmaster - then for sure you should try it. If you liked playing any of the panzer-general-like turn-based strategies, and sci-fi background won't annoy you - you should also go try it :)

If you don't like thinking and planning your next move, or if you prefer running and gunning - then try the board version at your friends house first.

If you don't belong to any of the groups - continue reading :)

There is a story in the background, but all you should know is you're in a post-apocalyptic world, in which humans, machines, and mutants fight for territory. There are four armies (in the standard version): Moloch (red) - cruel machines, Borgo (blue) - mutants created by machines, which gone their own way, Hegemony (yellow) - human gangs, and the Outpost - the last real army of humankind.

Each of these armies has different set of units and special tiles, and needs a different playing style.
Moloch units can shoot pretty well, or attack in several direction, but most of them can't move or rotate.
Borgo has units with high initiave, so they attack fast. Hegemony units can do massive damage at close range, and Outpost units move a lot and shoot a lot (like a reall guerillas).

At the start of the game each of players places his HeadQuarters tile - HQ have uniqe buffs for their tiles surrounding them, increasing initiavie (Borgo), shooting damage (Moloch), hand-to-hand damage (Hegemony) and adding an extra attack (Outpost). Additionally, HQs attack all enemies surrounding them in the last phase of a battle. After you place your HQs, in every turn you get 3 random tiles. One of them you have to dispose of, and the remaining two you can place in any free hex on the map. If you get a 'battle' tile - then you can play it to call a battle. If anyone plays the battle - it starts automatically after placing a tile on the last free hex.

..ok, so it looks really complicated, but it's not. After one or two rounds You will hate it or love it. After my first session with NH - I ended up in my bed thinking 'what could i do better next time?'.

AppStore version of NH has a really helpful tutorial, a wiki - which describes all the armies, their story and thier units. You can even learn by heart all the tiles counts, so you could be more prepared during the battle :)

Graphics aren't nothing special - they're just the way they should be. There's no cool blast effects or nothing - the game is really focused only on tactics. But if you are looking for a good strategy, which won't let you forget about it for a long time - Neuroshima Hex will be a good choice.

BTW - you can also play multiplayer with up to four friends sitting next to you ;)

Graphics - 3

Sound - 3

Gameplay - 5

Overall - 5 for strategy lovers, 3 for everyone else.

Monster Mayhem / iPad Review

Monster Mayhem is one of those games that make you look most stupid while playing them.

Look out, couse when people don't know your'e holding an iPad, they could think things...

The goal of the game is to hold back throngs of zombies attacking a cemetary gate. You start with only a knife, swinging it with your finger all over the screen, decapitating everything you can. After several waves of zombies, we can buy some better weapons - a gun, a shotgun, uzi, or even a flamethrower. You can also arm yourself with an airstrike or granades. They all do massive damage in a short time, but unfortunately you run out of ammo pretty quick, so.. Your'e forced to use knife most of the time.

Which is the most fun part of the game. You'll eventually end up swiping all over the place as fast as you can, tapping once every few seconds to collect coins lying here and there before they disappear.. Then swiping everywhere again, horizontally, vertically, like mad :)

Graphics ain't nothing special, sound effects wont win any oscars, but the gameplay is just amazing.

Go get it while it's free for a limited time, just don't be cought by friends cameras playing - couse belive me, you won't look to smart bringing mayhem.

Graphics: 3

Sound: 3

Gameplay: 5

Overall: 4

Free today - iSlash HD

Check out the game which was already downloaded more than 12 million times. Grab it today for free from AppStore.

Free today - Tiger Woods PGA TOUR 12!

Tiger Woods PGA TOUR 12 for iPad is free today! It's normal price was 3.99€, so if You don't have it already - here's the link to the AppStore.

Free App of the Day: Carnivores: Ice Age Pro

Carnivores: Ice Age is a very solid FPS. It's not a true action game, because there's too much thinking, too much creeping, and our character walks a bit slow. If You come too close to the animal - very often You'll find an end under it's hooves, or on their antlers, or just simply torn too death. The graphics ain't breath-taking, but it's a solid 3d environment with simple textures. Sounds are OK, You can tell a difference if there's a wolf or a pig behind You ;)

So yes, it's fun - You walk around the island and try to snipe as many animals as it's possible. If You succeed - You earn points. Every map, every weapon, and every animal has it's point value. Before start of the game You have to allocate those points, and decide which animals and on which map You'll be hunting. For example, if You've got 80 points, You can choose a map for 50 points, an animal for 10 points, and You'll have 20 points left to allocate to use a pistol. Innovative system, but it's really simple and makes sense. The more You play - more options appear, allowing You to change Your style of play.

I had really low expectations once I saw game screenshots on AppStore, and I've been really pleasantly surprised - I spent few hours walking around the maps and shooting those defenseless creatures. Well, maybe not all of them are defenseless - just look at the screenshot below..

Graphics: 3.5

Sound: 4.0

Gameplay: 4.0

Overall: 4.0

Mafia Rush / iPad Review

If you didn't know it already - I'm an action games junkie. If there's shooting and running in the game, or other kinds of adrenaline pumps - I'll be happy to at least try it. If it's an action game from a publisher with a solid reputation, then, I guess, it'll eventually end up here with a positive review :)

Mafia Rush tries to be an evolution of the simple hack & slash, isometric view games with double-pad control. Beside the well - known survival mode, in which you try to kill all enemies coming from all directions, there are also three other modes: robbery, attack and defend.

In robbery missions you've got to pick up bags with money from the bank, and get them to the escape truck. If an enemy hits you - you drop the bag. Of course you can blast enemies away, pick it up again, and continue to the truck, but you have to remember there's also a time limit. If you spend to much time fighting and picking up lost bags, you can already restart the mission.

Defend missions are just the opposite - you have to defend the money truck, not allowing enemies walk off with too many of your stolen bags. You've got also some tools which will help - i.e. a stationary self-targeting machine-gun turret. 

In attack missions, the easiest of them all, you have to find some TNT packages, plant them one by one on a enemy vehicle, run away from the blast radius, and of course stay alive while enemies try to shoot you. It sounds fun - and it is! - but I find those missions really too easy :)

The only weakness of this generally very good app is that the control pads feel weird. Don't get me wrong - they work all right, you turn around and fire in desired direction, but.. It ain't so smooth like in i.e. Gun Bros. Control pads in Gun Bros feel perfect, you turn around so smoothly, responding to every pixel you slide your thumb. Maybe I'm just an old man whining, but every time I play those two games Mafia is a little annoying. Maybe it's just me.. 

But in the end - Mafia Rush is a game well above average, worth playing at least a few hours.

Graphics: 4.5

Sound: 4.5

Gameplay: 4.5

Overall: 4.5

Gun Bros / iPad Review

My first contact with Gun Bros forecasted nothing special. Another freemium app, with tons of brazen ads and cool looking premium weapons. Frankly - I could have exited this game before even playing a minute, uninstalled it and forget it (at least till some other Gloo game wouldn't remind me it - Men vs Machines anyone?), but.. some annoying voices in my head told me to at least give it a try.

Having spent a dozen, or rather a few dozens evenings with Gun Bros I must say it's one of the most action packed games I've played. It has no plot (at least I don't remember it having none ;) ), just pure shoot and survive action. 

First you select game mode (tbh I play only classic, single player mode - I don't have time to get angry at someone elses lack of skill.. my own lack of skill is sufficient ;) ). Next you choose a planet - if you have already unlocked other planets of course.

First waves on the first planet are easy, you'll find it simple to max them out (survive without taking a hit). After that the difficulty level gets harder, and it keeps you really focused on improving your maneuvering and accuracy skills. It's really fun, when you've got some fast-firing  havoc-bringing arms, and your'e surrounded by throngs of enemies, and you try to dodge their bullets and keep moving while firing in all directions. Really, Gun Bros sometimes gives you a huge adrenaline pump.. but yet it's a relaxing game :) It makes a really relaxing evening to sit comfortably on an armchair, land on Bokor and try to survive there more than a minute. 

The last thing I'd like to mention is that in the end you really don't have to spend a penny to have fun with Gun Bros. Of course you can - there are tons of premium guns which will make you drool, and pieces of body armor which will probably make you live a lot longer - but it won't take long for you to start ignoring everything with dollars written all over them... There's just too much of it all.

Graphics: 5

Gameplay: 5

Sound: 5

Overall: 4.5 (-0.5 for tons of ads and premium content)

WTF?! (aka Games gone Angry)

First of all - this blog ain't no politically correct blog. Hell, it probably isn't even written with correct english :) The point of this blog is to whine about all this Hype around Angry Birds, and to review games for iPad while ignoring Angry series.

Your'e a new iPad2 user? Looking for some 'top 10 iPad games' articles? I bet Your'e fed up with those articles, couse every-freakin-one of them includes a game from Angry series. At least one game. Seriously, are there *really* no better games than Angry Birds..?

Secundo - I totally respect what authors of Angry Birds acomplished. But this all hype is ridiculous.. 'Cut the rope' is far more enjoyable :)

Po trzecie - I'm no iPad guru. I'm just a new user, who wants to share some thoughts with You all. I hope You all find this blog funny and entertaining :)

Ok, enough of this crap..

Hope You enjoy upcoming posts!